Vasily Aksyonov
Vasily Pavlovich Aksyonov ( ) (b. 1932) is a Russian novelist who began his career in the Soviet era. He is known in the West as the author of The Burn (Ожог, Ozhog, from 1975) and the critically acclaimed Generations of Winter (Московская сага, Moskovskaya Saga, from 1992), a family saga depicting three generations of the Gradov family between 1925 and 1953. Early life Vasily Aksyonov was born to Pavel Aksyonov and Yevgenia Ginzburg (Eugenia) in Kazan, USSR on August 20 1932. His mother was a successful journalist and educator and his father Pavel Aksyonov had a high position in the administration of Kazan. Both of them were faithful communists. In 1937 Yevgenia Ginzburg was arrested and tried for her alleged connection to Trotskyists. She was sentenced to 10 years of solitary confinement in prison (later added 10 years of forced labour in the GULAG). She served a total of 18 years there, gaining release in 1955. Vasily's father Pavel was arrested soon afterwards for a similar crime and was sentenced to 15 years of corrective labour. Vasily remained in Kazan with his nanny and grandmother until the NKVD arrested him as a son of "enemies of the people," and sent him to an orphanage without providing his family with any information. In 1938 Pavel, Aksyonov's brother, managed to find Vasily in an orphanage in Kostroma, and took him to live with his father's side of the family till 1948. Vasily's half-brother Alexei (from Ginzburg's first marriage to Dmitriy Fedorov) died from starvation in besieged Leningrad in 1941. In 1948, after her sentence was completed, Yevgenia Ginzburg managed to obtain a permission for Vasily to join her in Magadan, Kolyma. She described their first meeting in her autobiographical book Journey into the Whirlwind. Vasily completed his school education in Magadan and a decision was made to send him to the Medical University in Kazan. Career In 1956 Aksyonov graduated from the Leningrad Medical Institute and worked as a doctor for the next three years. He became a professional writer in 1960. In the 1960s Aksyonov is a frequent author of the popular "Yunost" ("Youth") magazine, he became a member of the magazine staff for the next couple of years. In the 1970s, after the end of the Khrushchev Thaw and the relaxation of censorship that accompanied it, Aksyonov's work was kept from publication. Soviet censors prevented two novels, The Burn and The Island of Crimea, from official publication. Aksyonov himself was criticized for exhibiting "unsoviet" qualities. At the same time, in 1978, Aksyonov's work was leaked and published abroad. On July 22 1980 Aksyonov and his wife Maya traveled to the USA on an invitation and were subsequently stripped of their Soviet citizenship. Until 2004, Aksyonov lived in the USA and taught a Russian Literature course at George Mason University. His new novel 'Moskva-kva-kva' (2006) was published in the Moscow-based magazine 'Oktyabr'. Aksyonov currently lives in a Moscow apartment with his wife, Maya Zmeul, and has a second home in Biarritz, France. Political Views Vasily Aksyonov is a convinced anti-totalitarian. On the presentation of his newest novel, he stated: "If in this country one starts erecting Stalin statues again, I have to reject my native land. Nothing else remains." Works His other novels are * Colleagues ("Коллеги" - Kollegi, 1960) * Ticket to the Stars ("Звёздный билет" - Zvyozdny bilet, 1961) * Oranges from Morocco ("Апельсины из Марокко" - Apel'siny iz Marokko, 1963) * It's Time, My Friend, It's Time ("Пора, мой друг, пора" - Pora, moy drug, pora, 1964) * It's a Pity You Weren't with Us ("Жаль, что вас не было с нами" - Zhal', chto vas ne bylo s nami, 1965) * Overstocked Packaging Barrels ("Затоваренная бочкотара" - Zatovarennaya bochkotara, 1968) * In Search of a Genre ("В поисках жанра" - V poiskakh zhanra, 1972) * The Island of Crimea ("Остров Крым" - "Ostrov Krym", 1979) * In Search of Melancholy Baby ("В поисках грустного бэби" - V poiskakh grustnogo bebi, 1987) * Yolk of the Egg (written in English, 1989) * Generations of Winter (English ed. of "Московская сага", 1994). Random House. ISBN 0-394-56961-X. * The New Sweet Style ("Новый сладостный стиль" - Novy sladostny stil', 1998) * Voltairian Men and Women ("Вольтерьянцы и вольтерьянки" - Volteryantsy i volteryanki, 2004 - won the Russian Booker Prize). * Моscow ow ow ("Москва Ква-Ква" - Moskva Kva-Kva, 2006) * Rare Earths ("Редкие земли" - Redkie zemli, 2007) External links *[http://www.booknotes.org/Transcript/?ProgramID=1443 Booknotes interview with Aksyonov on Say Cheese, November 5, 1989.] Category:Krym Category:1932 births Category:Living people Category:Russian novelists Category:Russian-American writers Category:Russian Jews Category:People from Kazan bg:Василий Аксьонов de:Wassili Pawlowitsch Aksjonow es:Vasili Aksiónov fr:Vassili Aksionov it:Vasilij Pavlovič Aksënov ru:Аксёнов, Василий Павлович fi:Vasili Aksjonov sv:Vasilij Aksenov uk:Аксьонов Василь Павлович